Neurobiologic Rationale for Treatment of Apathy in Alzheimer's Disease with Methylphenidate

The public health burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is related not only to cognitive symptoms, but also to neuropsychiatric symptoms. Most patients with AD will develop at least one such symptom over the course of the disease.1 Common neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD include agitation, depression, and apathy.2 Apathy is defined as a quantitative reduction of goal-directed activity in comparison to a previous level of functioning3 and affects 30-70% of persons with AD.2, 4 Even in the prodromal condition of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), apathy has an estimated prevalence of 15-18%4, 5 and is associated with a significantly increased risk of incident dementia.

Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - May 4, 2020 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Christopher H. van Dyck, Amy F.T. Arnsten, Prasad R. Padala, Olga Brawman-Mintzer, Alan J. Lerner, Anton P. Porsteinsson, Roberta W. Scherer, Allan I. Levey, Nathan Herrmann, Nimra Jamil, Jacobo E. Mintzer, Krista L. Lanct ôt, Paul B. Rosenberg Tags: Clinical Review Article Source Type: research